Day Job? Haha, well that’s a good place to start. I don’t have one. I was a graphic/web designer for about 10 years when I decided just this last September to quit it all and pursue fine art. So each and every day I get up and work on art. As for my lifestyle, I casually practice Buddhism, eat a vegetarian diet approximately 90% of the time (don’t sweat the other 10) and love ultra trail running.

What was your first vinyl toy custom? How did it come about. Were you pleased with the result?

My first vinyl toy that I customized was actually two munnys I purchased for my wife’s sister and her husband as a gift about two years ago when we all went down to Miami for the Ultra Music Festival. We saw them when we went into the Miami KidRobot store and thought they’d be a cute gift. I used the markers they came with and made caricatures of them both impromptu like. They came out horrible and I was really terribly embarrassed to give them. So for that reason I generally don’t list those as my first. I usually say my first real custom was done for the Munnyworld contest. When I quit my job to pursue arts, my very supportive older brother told me about the contest. I think it was just one week after my decision and I had less then a week to enter. I did and won. At the time I did it I was pleased but as with all my pieces I quickly turn from pleased to critical and only want to move on to the next piece to try to better myself.

To be honest, I really don’t like that piece although my brother says it’s his favourite. My very cool mother-in-law owns the piece now.

Describe a typical day in the life of Kevin

My typical day begins at about 7:30-8:00. First thing first, the dogs need walking. I have two awesome dogs who are my kids. After my walk I feed them and make myself coffee. Then I go to my home office/studio with said coffee and check out my e-mail and TweetDeck to see what conversations are going on. I check all the blogs that keep me informed of all the cool art out there, I check out the Huffpost cause I’m a touch political and I check out my twin brothers photoblog. By 9:00 I get sculpting. Around noon I get a bit to eat but bring it back to my desk where I’ll check up on the blogs and huffpost again. As soon as I’m finished eating its back to work. I like to listen to music while I work to get me in the zone but I also am known to have long conversations with my best friend from high school who now lives in Georgia via Google Talk. It’s like he’s in a cubicle next to me while I work. It’s a very good practice for someone who has worked from a home office for over 5 years now. That’s it. Fast forward to 5-6:00 and I stop to help make dinner and then it’s relaxing with my beautiful wife until we head to bed at a reasonable time of 10-11.

You are about to have a little baby girl in your life, how do you think this will influence your work load, time ?

Yikes. I’m trying not to think about it. How about you Mark? Let me say this though. Without the coming birth of my baby girl, there would be no Custom Kevin. I did a job for ten years that I did not enjoy. It was only with the reality that I was going to be a father that I realized life is up to us. I didn’t want my child(ren) to have a father who was lame enough to continue doing something he didn’t enjoy and too scared to try to achieve something he dreamed of. What kind of example would I be for them? It was perfectly clear that by any means I had to try fine art. So how will she change my life? I have already thanked her many times in my head and can’t wait to do it in person. As for the question, well, she’s going to kill my productivity I’m sure, but in return I’m sure she’ll give me inspiration.

Your inclusion in Munnyworld show with your brilliant custom Dunny Eater really put you in the spotlight, how did you come to be in the show?

The DunnyEater was a lot of fun to make. I loved working that big. As I said in the prior question, I owe thanks to my brother for telling me about the contest. Once I won KR sent me the mega and I had about 3 weeks to make my best impression. I had a lot of other ideas that were really out there and some I still hope to create but I owe my wife for steering me into a more simple concept. She said, and I’m paraphrasing, “don’t try to do something crazy, just do something simple like your troll idea and do it to the best of your ability. It may be something people have seen before but if it’s good work, people will respond to it.” Boy was she right. She’s right a lot.

What vinyl figures do you collect, and what is your all time favourite Piece?

Honestly, I don’t collect much. Not because I don’t desire it though but rather because it’s expensive and I’m a starving artist. When I have money though look out, there’s so much I would love to have. Gotta win me some of these contests out there. But I do have a few toys I love. Revoltech made some cool Gai-King toys. Stikfas, cause I’m a artist and they’re like cool little armatures. But my favourite toy happens to be a blue Mini Munny signed by Kozik down in Miami. It was the same trip I talked about earlier. We were just walking around and suddenly I was like, oh jee willikers(cause that’s how I talk) there’s a KR in Miami. I didn’t know that. We go in and as luck would have it Kozik was going to be there for a signing for a release party. What are the chances? So I got 3 Munnys. Two for my in-laws and one for me. I had Kozik sign it “Stop Whining! Start Designing!!”

It stands on my desk right above me and is a constant reminder to work. Oh, And in my pic, Frank isn’t asleep. But what’s cool is back then I had no idea what would eventually happen.

What is your favourite piece you have produced?

My favourite piece is always my current piece. Cause I’m so new at this and learning so fast, each time I work on a new piece I’m exploring something new and more advanced. I’m always pushing myself to try something just a little harder. Each piece also has a special space in my heart though. I think you’ll find that with most artists. We put so much time and effort into each piece that there are solid memories and associations linked to each one. It’s been 14 years since I finished art school and when I hear some songs I still clearly remember painting specific pieces. It’s that strong. So one piece? Nope. Well, how about that Labbit. Cause it was my first commission by a private collector who had some faith in me.

Please describe the toy you’d create if money wasn’t an issue?

Oh jeesh. Grendizer! On second thought, I’m no good at straight lines. Give me something organic. I love the human figure. Actually, I’m holding on to an idea that I think is a gem. Sorry, got to keep this one secret less someone beat me to the punch.

What in your opinion is the best thing about customising toys?

I think it’s the complete freedom in this industry to create whatever you want. The artists and fans seem to be just the coolest bunch out there. And I like how even though we take our art very seriously, it’s not too serious. And for the most part it’s not pretentious but a sincere, “wow, that’s cool.” But what it all comes down for me, whether it’s toys or not, is the moment when I start placing the clay down. The moment where it just starts taking shape. There’s nothing but potential and it’s all just so much fun pushing the clay around and seeing the gesture of the concept. I love that. Then it turns into work. I love that too but not as much.

You do a lot of sculpting in your customs, where does this great skill originate from? Do you enjoy sculpting?

The first thing I remember sculpting was when I was maybe four or five years old. Must have been a boy scout meeting. Someone shoved a knife in my hand(ah, those were the days) and a bar of soap. I saw a whale in it. So I sculpted the whale. And sculpted. And sculpted until the bar of soap was just a tiny chip. I just couldn’t get it right the way I saw it in my head. Eventually someone took the knife away but I still had that desire. Over the years my twin brother and I would constantly be told by everyone that we had “talent” and we should pursue it. And we did. We both went to art school for illustration. But aside from that whale and a couple other pieces I never did sculpture. It wasn’t until I worked as a painter for a props shop that I realized that I was just colouring someone else’s artwork. So I decided to move to the sculpting department and try my hand at it. I would do that for a year before I left it for a better paying job in web design. But after ten years I had to get back to it.

hah! Me with my blond do. What was I thinking. Must have been all the toxic fumes.

Where do there fantastic characters you dream up come from?

That’s very generous. All my ideas so far are pretty basic I think. What I do try to focus on is functionality. For some reason in my head it’s got to make sense. That’s sarcasm if it doesn’t go over well in print. So with the Custom Labbit I did, I wanted to add anatomy. I see these blank DIY toys with no features and I say, what would that guy look like with anatomy. I’m just not a 2d person. I want to see all the dimensions and see things come to life.

Any artists that influence you at all?

There are too many. I could spend all day every day searching the web for amazing artist and to be honest it can get quite discouraging to see all the amazing work out there. You begin to wonder how in the world could you compete with that. Of course all the traditional masters are great. Some wonderful books I have are Michael Whelan, J.W. Waterhouse, George Bridgman, Thomas Eakins, Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta and Darrel K. Sweet. As for contemporary toy artists there are many. But I’ll just name one as I think he’s very similar to my style and well, I dig that. Fplus.

The worst or most challenging aspect of customising toys.

The cost. I’m really thinking I need to do some print pieces so I can easily make reproductions and bring some money in. Did I mention I’m going to be a father soon? But seriously. Sculpting is a very expensive hobby and it’s not the wisest choice for those who want to earn a living.

Any shows or exhibitions you involved in coming up at all?

Uuummm. Nope. Anybody got a spot open.

What music do you like listening to when you working?

Oh boy. Ok, so I’m a geezer when it comes to music. I stopped listening to new music back in the nineties. Don’t know why. Just happened. I explored all the older music and found I liked it more. Scroll through my itunes list and you find stuff from Elvis and Neil Diamond, to Misfits and Iron Maiden. Throw in some Zeppelin and Who, a dash of Pearl Jam and Modest Mouse and that pretty much says it all. For me the overlying theme has got to be upbeat though. I rarely listen to moody music. I discovered long ago that if I wanted to be happy, listening to melodramatic music wasn’t going to help. But music is so essential to getting a lot done. Leave me alone with music going and a lot will get done.

What are the next plans for Kevin, anything you can share with our readers?

Sure. The most immediate thing is a custom Munny I’m making that will most likely be on sale toward the end of next week. It’s my own thing so I’m sort of creating it as I go along. All I know right now is this is going to be in a similar vein to the Dunny Eater but be made out of a regular sized munny. It’s going to have tusks and be kind of a boar like creature who has a spear and shield. Check out my twitter account for WIP pics. After that I’m going to get started on a really cool collaboration with an illustrator from the east. He’s more of a sci-fi fantasy painter who wants me to sculpt one of his creatures for him. We’re thinking of making a limited run of resin casts. All I can say is that I can’t wait to get started.

The first artist I’d like to introduce you to is Kevin Gosselin. I call him “The Warrior Sculptor,” after all, that’s what he does best. He is a great guy and gave a fantastic interview, so let’s have it…

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PROCESS

How do you usually start? That is to say, do you come up with character ideas first before choosing your model? (i.e. Dunny or Munny), or do you let your canvas speak to you? How do your ideas come about?

My ideas, generally speaking, always come from looking at the platform in front of me and letting it speak to me. As you ask this question I stare at a Jouwe due next Tuesday and wonder what am I going to do with this? Lot’s of ideas pop in my head including, and most often pop culture references. But I try to ignore those. I am such a pop culture fan but to be honest, I’m a heavy critic of pop culture art. I’ve had long conversations with my brother about the topic and have come to an understanding with it. Essentially it breaks down to this… I used to hate pop art, cause I felt that it took no creativity to copy someone else’s contemporary ideas and spin art off them. BUT, here’s the thing, I have realized that although I generally don’t do pop art, I still spin all my art off of existing ideas. My art just from a different genre. Fantasy, sci-fi. So I have now accepted that it is very rare to find new ideas in art, to appreciate that all things have an influence somewhere in the annals of history and to stop being such a art snob. Cause I am SOOO an art snob. But where was I? I believe I derailed from your question. Where does it come from? I’m a big folklore, fairly-tale, D&D, sci-fi fantasy kinda nut. That’s where it comes from. So when I look at a platform, I try to let it tell me it’s story, so that I can imply that story in three dimensions and hope to send a viewer into a world of day-dreaming.

OK, the truth is I sometimes show my wife the platform and say “What do you think I should do?” I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to rob her of all her fresh ideas!

[Ent Munny]

[Sam Spade Mini Munny]

Do you sketch your design first (either on paper and/or on the toy) or do you just go at it with no preparation?

Not usually. It’s funny that when I was young, I was the guy known for drawing doodles over everything I owned. My closet back in my mother’s home where I grew up may still have a spaceship dashboard drawn on the wall. I used to love drawing so much, but these days I find it’s not as fun any more. I want to skip over that step and create a tangible thing. But sometimes, I will do a real rough thumbnail sketch on paper to plan things out. I also like doing sculpt sketches especially since I’ve started using Magic Sculpt. Magic Sculpt air dries and has a good working life of maybe one hour so I really need to plan out my concepts before jumping in. But if I had my way, no sketches would be necessary. I hate planning things out. It takes the fun out of it. For me, there’s nothing more enjoyable than the first exploratory pushes of the clay. I really like to let the clay find itself and show me who the character is. I work very intuitively, never really knowing what I’ll get until I’m just about done. For instance, Bacon was a character that derived from me simply saying, I want to do another dunny eater piece but this guy will have TUSKS!! As the character develops I get to know them and I say, what’s their story? What do they need to flesh them out. Bacon needed a shied and a halberd. I will say though that reference is always an important step for me. When I start, I like to Google search images of everything related to what is is I’ve got in my mind. First I want to see if someone has done what I’ve done. And how they did it to be sure I don’t end up doing something too similar. I like to find textures that I can mimic, be it stone or wood. I like to find color schemes. I gather a folder of images to stare at while I work to be sure that I’m adhering to some sort of realism.

[Bacon Munny]

How do you prepare your canvas? i.e. Do you strip or prime or sand etc.? What materials/products do you usually use?

It all depends on the piece really. But for a vinyl toy, I generally like to rough up the vinyl with sand paper first to make sure the clay I’m using will adhere properly. Right now I’m still exploring materials but of lately I’ve been using Magic-Sculpt to sculpt my designs. It’s so adhesive on it’s own so I don’t feel the need to rough up the vinyl unless it’s super slick. I also like to anchor the clay in places that have lots of build up with screws. I’m overly paranoid about the durability and longevity of my pieces. People are paying good money for my work and I want to be sure I’m made a piece that won’t fall apart in years to come. I’m experimenting every day to be sure of this. I’d love to say that I know all the tricks to making the perfect piece but I’m still learning. For clays, I like Super Sculpey and Super Sculpey Firm over all other clays so far. I use this for pieces I plan on moulding and casting. I can get the best results with it but don’t need to worry about it breaking after I make the mould. For one offs that won’t have a cast made I like to use Magic Sculpt because it’s so durable and has a pretty awesome workability about it.

How do you apply your design? Do use markers, brushes, frisket, painters tape, acrylics, polymer clay, plumbers putty, etc.? What products and how do you use them – mold, bake, spray, etc.?

As I said before, I try to be sure my clay adheres to the platform by either roughing it up or screws. Sometimes I’ll do a very basic pencil sketch on the vinyl to be sure of placement. Then I place the clay on using one of the aforementioned clays and work it until my finished sculpt is done. With Sculpey products I like to use a heat gun to lock things in place and then periodically bake it in my oven. I keep the temp down low, 225 F for 20 minutes and then put the oven to warm and do another 30 minutes. To help I might use an armature made of various wires, plumbers putty, tin foil and floral wrap. The floral wrap is great for keeping tin foil in place. Once done I generally prime the sculpt with Dulpi-Color Sandable Primer. This is an auto primer that can be found at auto parts or department stores. Then I use acrylic paints that I hand brush. I’ve always thought having a air brush would be so cool but I’m now leaning toward sticking with the brush. I think I just like to push both clay and paint around. I think an airbrush would just be too slick for me. For now at least.

[Sketching, Screwing and Sculpting]

How do you finish a piece? Signature and clear coat? Do you have any rituals?

I make a homemade pizza. Yes. I’m a pizza nut too. I think every guy in the states has completely killed a woman’s taste for pizza because we would seriously eat it every night if we could. So I try to limit how often I have pizza and it’s my reward for finishing a piece. OH! Finishing? Oh, OK, I use Golden Acrylics Gloss and Matte polymer varnish. I put a layer of gloss on everything and then re-coat with matte on everything except areas that I want to look wet, like eyes. As for my signature, I seriously have to remind myself to add it. It’s not something I’m in the habit of putting. I don’t think that highly of myself to want to splash my name across everything like I’m some kinda brand. Don’t get me wrong, I WANT to be a brand, I just don’t want it to look like I want it. Actually, in almost all my pieces, I put small personal hidden details. The one that has essentially become my signature, is a scar next to the right eye of my character. I add this to essentially make the character me. When I was 14 I got a serious cut along my face from where my GIGANTIC bottle thick glasses shattered and dug straight into my skull. You can see on the stone golem I really made a huge scar and even gave it the marks created by the 12 stitches.

[Stone Golem for Milk Money Exhibition]

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

What is your background? Where do you work and play?

I grew up in a tiny New Hampshire town and basically did nothing but fish and hike until I left at 18 for art school. It was pretty wholesome. Art school was in Florida. Ringling School of Art and Design. I majored in Illustration. After school I eventually moved out west to CA and then ended up in Seattle. I like it here but there a very good chance of me becoming a Canadian some day soon as my wife is from Toronto and hopes to move back. I work from home and have done so for the last six years. It awesome on so many levels and horrible on just as many. My work day is as such. Get up and care for our baby Alexandria until 4pm and then work until I can’t stand it anymore, which is around 2-4 am. My wife also works from home and we share a very cluttered home office. It’s very much family nowadays. As for play, it’s with the baby, making silly sounds and holding toys trying desperately to provoke a giggle.

How did you get started customizing toys?

By now most people who have heard of me know that I kinda just appeared out of nowhere when I entered and won the Kidrobot Munnyworld contest one year ago. Yup, been a year. It just so happened that I had decided one week prior to quit my job as a web/graphic designer to pursue fine art. I had no direction what-so-ever I just knew that if I applied myself for a couple years I would be able to find myself and develop into something in which I could earn a living. My wife and I had decided to have a baby and when the news that we were successful had arrived it really hit home who I wanted to be in life. And it was not a graphic designer. So I was told about the contest, won and it gave me a direction. But the truth is, and not too many people know this, that the direction was there all the time. About 13 years ago, my best friend has introduced me to Sculpey and I became hooked. I had always enjoyed sculpting and now I had a way to do it without a ton of mess. I would occasionally create a piece here and there for girlfriends and just for recreation. Then I got my job with a props shop and eventually worked in the sculpting dept. Wow. It was such an awesome job and I learned from the most brilliant man I think I have ever met, Ivan Saxby. You won’t find any info about him anywhere except a Sci-Fi novel he wrote, but this guy is amazing. When I left that job after a couple years to make money doing design, I always manage to squeeze in a sculpt here and there as a hobby. Below are a couple pictures of a cast and REALLY poorly painted sculpt I did for my nephew Zinn of Max from “Where the Wild Things Are”. Falling into making toys seems like a complete obvious choice for me now, but it really just happened by accident.

[Max from Where the Wild Things Are]

Is toy customizing a hobby or is it full-time job? Do you have another job? What (else) pays the bills for you?

It’s a full time job although since my baby was born it seems more like a part-time gig now. For now I’m working as hard as I can to figure out exactly what kind of art I want to do and build a solid portfolio at the same time. One year has passed and I think I’ve done as good as a job as I could have ever hoped for when I set out on this experiment. I’ve got one more year in me to make it work financially. If it doesn’t work out then I’ll go get a job, but I’ll be proud of what I accomplished and know that at least I tried. But I do know, regardless of the outcome, I’ve found what I truly enjoy and I’ll always do toys whether I have a day job or not. So don’t expect me to go anywhere.

Do you have any plans to create your own toy designs? (Custom mold/shape, etc.)

YES. I have plans to make everything imaginable. It’s just a matter of time. But realistically, lots of them won’t happen. I’m starting to lighten my load to free up time now in anticipation for next year. I have a couple small group shows where I’d like very much to have my own small run resin pieces. I do prefer customs though. Ideally I’d like to make very small limited runs much like the big guy Huck Gee. Yeah. YEAH. And sell them for big $$ like Huck.

What are you working on now?

Oh Jeesh. I’m very happy to say that I’m out of my mind busy. Got a lot of stuff happening but for the most part it’s shows and commissions. The Jouwe for the TAG show in LA is due real soon, then it’s a qee for another show, then I have a lot of very patient clients who I owe commissioned customs.

[Jouwe preparation]

Who or what inspires your art? How has your work changed since you started designing toys?

Everything inspires me. There is not enough time in the day to look at the infinite amount of awesome artwork out there. My fellow customizers inspire me. I believe I may have mentioned in the past that I really don’t get inspiration from other artists other than to drive me to be better. But I’ve come to realize that’s just not true. Recently the artist known as JRYU came out with a piece that blew my mind. It so clearly told a story and made me feel like a kid again. It had that “Where the Wild Things Are” quality about it and I can honestly say that my reaction to that piece has been a defining moment in my career that I’m sure to remember when I’m older. What I learned from that piece is that the single most important thing an artist must do is to tell a story. Get the viewer daydreaming. I thought I was doing that before by making lots of accessories for my characters but realize now I was missing the mark. That’s why my latest piece I did for the Milk Munny Exhibition has so much more going on with it than any other pieces I’ve done. As for my work changing since I started designing toys, can’t say that it has until this last piece, other than skill level. I’ve learned a lot and things have got better and more ambitious I think. What I have really learned though is what direction I’d like to take. Expect for things to really change up over the next year. What I’ve discovered is that I want to do much less customizing of others platforms and more original work. Don’t get me wrong, I love customizing, but I have so many ideas and they can’t be told on a someone else’s platform.

Do you collect toys as well as customize them? If yes, do you have a favorite and why?

No. Here’s the thang. I can either make em or buy em. Ifen I make em, then chances ar Imma gonna be too po to collect em. And if I collect em, Imma gonna need a real job that pays.

But seriously, when I make money again, oh, I have a huge list of artists I’ve become friends with and admire that I’ll be wanting to collect.

As far as my favorite toy, Gai King FTW.

[Gai King]

Though you have done other designs, your trademark style is sculpture and a theme of “The Warrior.” How did this come to be? What treatments/techniques have you experimented with, etc.?

I guess it is isn’t it? I guess I just have some inner rage that needs to be expressed in a way on cute vinyl can do. I think it’s just a coincidence, but probably not, I’ve read too many comic books, played too much role playing for it not to be.

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WHO IS KEVIN GOSSELIN?

Kevin Gosselin is a custom toy designer and illustrator influenced by sci-fi and fantasy art, comic books, anime, the masters and too many contemporary artist to fully list. Kevin is exploring the designer toy scene. It mixes his love of sculpture, illustration and fine art and is the perfect output for his passions.